The present invention relates to a holder for stemware to restrain individual pieces of stemware from movement with respect to a tray surface.
Principally in the restaurant and catering business, it is necessary to serve a number of people with drinks and beverages in stemware or glasses. This stemware has a generally circular base, a narrow, high stem rising from the base and a cup or liquid retaining portion atop the stem. These glasses or stemware are placed on a tray surface and hence the stemware is subject to move across the tray surface due to movement of the entire tray by the waiter or waitress. The poor stability of the stemware on the tray causes spillage from the cup portion as well as breakage of the stemware when the glasses fall from the tray or collide with each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,602,310 to Hansen discloses a clip-on stemware holder having two fingers attached at an aft region with a V-shaped slot opened at the fore end of the holder and defined by the inboard edges of the fingers. Various lateral cross-sections of the holder are planar and the aft regions of the holder are raised above the tray surface higher than the other regions of the holder, the fore regions of the holder are tapered toward the tray surface thereby engaging the base of the stemware along the fore underside surfaces of the holder. U.S. Pat. No. 774,479 to Lange discloses a tray for glasses wherein a rack extends above the tray surface and has a plurality of slots therein into which the stem of the stemware fits. Springs are disposed beneath the rack on either side of the slots to retain side sections of the base of the stemware. U.S. Pat. No. 817,148 to Allen discloses a tray for lasses utilizing spring type holders. Generally, the spring type holders restrain the base of the stemware along a line parallel to the longitudinal center line of the tray. The outboard edge of the base of the stemware is restrained by a side wall of the tray.